Version en français

Panoramix-II - queue mode observations

Basic instrument characteristics

Field of view (OMM)	34'x34'
Pixel scale (OMM)	0.5"/pixel
Detector	2 x E2V42-80 2048 x 4096 pixels
Minimum integration time	0.1 s

Readout time	75 s
Overhead per dither (<30")	~5-10 s
Overhead for slews of more than a few arcminutes	~30-45 s
Median Full Width at Half-Maximum (FWHM) at the OMM	2.0"
Readout noise	~5 electrons
Linearity imit	~30 000 ADU
Gain	~3.6 e-/ADU
Dark current	~0.02 e-/pix/sec at -100°C

Available filters

Panoramix-II filter wheel can hold up to 5 filters. Two filter sets are available: Sloan SDSS 'ugri' and classical 'UBVRI' as described in Bessel (PASP, 1990, vol. 102, p.1181).

Filter	λ (Å)	Δλ (Å)
u	3543	567
g	4770	1387
r	6231	1373
i	7625	1526
U	3640	600
B	4370	900
V	5400	900
R	6300	1200
I	8500	2500

Getting started with your Panoramix-II proposals

Here is the relevant information the you should include in your Panoramix-II proposal.

Program length and target priority

The Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic queue mode observation's main goal is to open the door to small project that cannot justify a long observing run over many nights. Proposal are therefore limited to a maximum of 4 hours of total integration time for priority targets. If you proposal includes more than one target, you should prioritize them. Proposals may include an unlimited number of best effort targets that will be observed if no priority target is left in the queue.

The required exposure time may be estimated from the values listed in the table below. As a rule-of-thumb, for a given S/N ratio, the limiting magnitude increases as 1.3×log(T) and decreases with the seeing as 2.5×log(FWHM). The limiting magnitude with S/N=100 for observations taken under a 2.5" seeing and a total exposure time of 2 hours in r will therefore be

19.0 + 1.3×log(7200s/100s) - 2.5×log(2.5"/2") = 21.2 during darktime, and

19.0 + 1.3×log(7200s/300s) - 2.5×log(2.5"/2") = 20.5 when the moon is full.

Filter	Texp(sec); m=19, seeing=2", S/N=100, new moon	Texp(sec); m=19, seeing=2", S/N=100, full moon
u	230	2530
g	135	510
r	100	300
i	200	355

Length of individual exposures

The minimum exposure time is 0.1 sec. The maximum lenght can be several thousand seconds. However, cosmic rays contamination become important for exposure above about 1800 seconds. Thus, it is probably preferable to coadd several shorter exposures.

Image quality constraints

Observing conditions at the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic are typical of a continental site with a 2.0" median seeing measured with Panoramix-II (including the instrumental PSF). If the angular resolution is important to meet your science goals, you may add as a constraint that the observation be done only under a seeing better than the 2.0". Of course, this constraint will decrease the likelihood that your observations be completed.

Timing constraints

Queue mode observations allow time-constrained observations, but you must remember that this mode will only be available from 20 to 30% of the time at the OMM and that a good fraction of the nights are lost to clouds. Certain types of time-constrained observations are nevertheless well suited for this mode, such as binary system eclipses that have many timing windows through the semester. If you which to submit such a proposal, please submit an ascii table of the observing windows (UT time) with your proposal.

For other types of timing constraints, please contact us before submitting your proposal.

Dither pattern

An automatic dither pattern is available in order to avoid bad pixels and/or columns on the detector. This dither pattern generates a sequence of 4 images, each shifted either west, south, east or north by 75 pixels (~ 1 arcmin).

Data reduction

The Université de Montréal LAE's team developped a data reduction pipeline for the analysis of Panoramix-II datasets. In addition to your raw data, you will receive fully reduced data with astrometric calibration.

Acknowledgements

All paper using Panoramix-II data must include the following note in the "Acknowledgement" section :

"Based on observations obtained with Panoramix-II at the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic, funded by the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Fond québécois de la recherche sur la Nature et les technologies (FQRNT) and the Canada Economic Development program."

A few pretty pictures obtained with Panoramix-II

Relevant links

OMM telescope manual (french only)
OMM weather
The OMM clear sky clock
OMM's website (French)
Observers schedule

Questions? Feel free to contact us!

Étienne Artigau : artigau:at:astro.umontreal.ca (514-343-6834)
Robert Lamontagne : lamont:at:astro.umontreal.ca (514-343-6111 ext 3195)
Laurent Drissen : drissen:at:phy.ulaval.ca (418-656-2131 ext 5641)